The Rossoneri need to raise funds in order to make a big-money move for Alessio Cerci and can only do so by selling a star player, with the talented full-back expendable

EXCLUSIVE By Gaia Brunelli

AC Milan are considering sacrificing Mattia De Sciglio in order to raise funds to make a big-money purchase before the end of the summer transfer window.

The Rossoneri are on the verge of completing moves for Real Madrid's Diego Lopez and Udinese's Pablo Armero but still want to bring more players in.

The primary objective is an established right winger for Filippo Inzaghi's 4-3-3 formation. Alessio Cerci of Torino is the No.1 choice but his €18-20 million (£14.3-15.9m) price tag is out of reach unless Milan raise funds.

This will require the sale of a star player. CEO Adriano Galliani would prefer to ship out Mario Balotelli but finding a buyer has proven difficult after the striker disappointed at the World Cup.

Thus, Milan are considering offloading young defender De Sciglio – who has been regularly linked with Real Madrid this summer and is greatly admired by coach Carlo Ancelotti.

The 21-year-old, who can play at both right- and left-back, is regarded as one of Europe's most promising defenders but there have been question marks for a while as to whether Galliani holds him in such high regard.

When asked this summer about which players he considered to be the future of Milan, the transfer guru highlighted Stephan El Shaarawy but failed to name De Sciglio.

Milan, who still hope to complete a €3m (£2.4m) transfer for Adel Taarabt from QPR, are also considering Napoli's Goran Pandev as a cheaper option.